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I want to pull some chicks on next coming gig,What kinda chord can you suggest to initiate seduction ?I was thinking about augmented F#sus13/C with spread sixth on topAnd sprinkled some seconds in the middle.Plus I can do Keith Jarrett face to emphasize the excitement. What do you think?

Really, Bartok did it? I first encountered this sound in Satriani's "Mystical Potato Head Groove Thing" in like 1990. Satch based "Power Cosmic" almost completely on this voicing; it's worth a listen if you've never heard it. The rhythm guitar in the bakground arpeggiates major/minor feel descending the LH in half steps and the RH in whole steps half as fast. The effect is quite ethereal and mysterious.

(Kenny Barron style kicks in at 1:32). I only found out that was called "Kenny Barron voicings" a few weeks ago. And now I hear it goes back to Bartok? Now I'm just waiting to hear that it was a well-known trick of Mozart's. Thanks for the pointer Dave - I'll look for it.

Incidentally as someone with small hands I find this voicing very fatiguing.

Go with Kenny Barron chords - all fifths with a minor second in the middle. FCGAbEbBb. Alternate major and minor voicings.

Disclaimer: the piano never got me laid.

Lovely sound. Is there any literature on using these chords? Books or chapters in books?

Trying to put them into a vi-ii-V-I progression, I fail miserably. The sound confuses me. Using the chord that you wrote out (FCGAbEbBb), I hear a strong pull towards Eb, as though your chord was the 5th, but that would be Bb in the key of Eb, and only the top note in your chord seems to belong to that chord.

Hey JakeI happened to be watching this yesterday. Prior to this vid, I hadn't known what a Kenny Barron chord was, technically speaking.However, I have been applying the concept, which is one of "enlarging" the voicing.

Nice vid, custard. I have been monkeying around with this voicing and agree it is hard to fit into a II-V-I. I seem to have the best luck applying it sparingly.

A nice exercise to just get the feeling is to steal Satriani's progression. Play the FCGAbEbBb with some roll, then drop the LH a half step so your playing E B Gb Ab Eb Bb. This is the Major voiving. Then drop the LH a half step again and this time drop RH a whole step, so EbBbF and GbDbAb. You've just transposed down a step. Repeat until you get sick of it. That's what is going on in that track I linked to above, and the guitar is playing a simple solo over the top.

Jake this chord does have a lot of Eb chord tones in it - in some ways it does seem more like an Eb than an F.

Edit: ya know I've always like Eric Johnson's "Song for Lynnette" but could never figure out how to play it (and could never find sheet music). It just occurred to me that that piece has a similar sound and in this vid the player does appear to be playing 1-5-9 in the LH. So this may also be an example of their usage:

Jake this chord does have a lot of Eb chord tones in it - in some ways it does seem more like an Eb than an F.

Now I see: In the key of Eb, that chord can function as a form of suspended Eb, so that just moving the Ab down to G resolves. So the chord becomes a substitute for the 5th in a vi-ii-V-I.

Because the chord has an F on the far left, I was trying to use it as the ii chord, F minor. Instead, it can come in after the F minor chord and then resolve to the tonic.

But I've yet to see how similar chords can used throughout a vi-ii-V-I sequence. The minor chords have such a different coloring. Minor 7th chords sometimes seem to sound better, with the b3 on top (1-b7-b3 voicing), but I'm still experimenting. And I still need to watch the video you linked to...

Nice vid, custard. I have been monkeying around with this voicing and agree it is hard to fit into a II-V-I. I seem to have the best luck applying it sparingly.

A nice exercise to just get the feeling is to steal Satriani's progression. Play the FCGAbEbBb with some roll, then drop the LH a half step so your playing E B Gb Ab Eb Bb. This is the Major voiving. Then drop the LH a half step again and this time drop RH a whole step, so EbBbF and GbDbAb. You've just transposed down a step. Repeat until you get sick of it. That's what is going on in that track I linked to above, and the guitar is playing a simple solo over the top.

Hey jawsThanks for spelling out this pretty sample progression.To my ears it sounds like introducing a Cmin7 sound to F min, then a Bmaj7 sound to E maj, then a C#maj6 sound go Eb min.As the "upper extensions" go from C to B to C# it all sounds very smooth.